National and State Register

Rio Grande & Southern Derrick Car

Montrose County

The Rio Grande Southern Railroad Derrick Car is a rare surviving example of one type of maintenance of way car constructed for use on a narrow-gauge railroad.  Derrick cars of this size assisted in the construction of small bridges and moving rail ties and track.

A black and white photo of the car with fence around it and a hill in the background.

Rio Grande & Southern Derrick Car

It was particularly useful in the clearing the railroad’s right of way following rock slides and wash-outs, both common hazards of the mountainous Colorado terrain.  Constructed in 1948 by Fairmount Motors, a leading supplier of railroad maintenance vehicles, this car was one of only three W60 Series A Derrick Cars constructed specifically for narrow-gauge lines and is the only one known to be extant.